Clare Sauro

Clare Sauro is director of the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection (FHCC). She joined Drexel University in 2008 and has over 20 years' experience working in the field of historic costume and museums.

As director of the FHCC, she has mounted several notable exhibitions including Brave New World: Fashion & Freedom, 1911-1919 (2011), Immortal Beauty: Highlights from the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection (2015), Philadelphia in Style: A Century of Fashion from the Robert & Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection (2016) at the James A. Michener Art Museum, and James Galanos: Design Integrity (2018).

Heralded as a “world-class collection of fashion and textiles” by The Wall Street Journal, the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University (FHCC) is a museum-quality collection of more than 20,000 garments, textiles, and related materials. The FHCC’s role as a historic costume collection within an R1 research university allows for an interdisciplinary approach not always possible in a traditional museum of art or history.

In addition to her role as director of the Fox Historic Costume Collection, Sauro teaches courses in the history of fashion. Her current research includes fashion from 1910 to 1939, Philadelphia retailer Nan Duskin, cellophane textiles, and Hollywood costume designer Bernard Newman. Sauro is a frequent lecturer on the history of fashion and is regularly interviewed and consulted by journalists and scholars on topics ranging from red carpet fashion to the history of pajamas.